


Equal Value

by CentralCrasis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:27:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CentralCrasis/pseuds/CentralCrasis
Summary: "What makes them any better than me?" / "Nothing."
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Equal Value

One of his least favorite parts of being Head Boy was handing out detentions. James tried to avoid giving them out as much as he could. Usually, it just resulted in a waste of his time and the student’s. He could easily recall all of his detentions and how little of an impact they had on his future mischief making. In fact, there were a handful of times where a detention directly inspired the next bout of pranks.

Try as he might though, there were times when detentions were unavoidable, like right now. He had heard the shouts from down the corridor, and when he turned the corner, he was greeted by flashes of multicolored lights. James immediately knew what was happening and casted a shield charm between the warring parties. A couple more spells shot off and bounced around the room before either side realized what had happened. Their duel had come to a swift and unsatisfying end.

One of the students tried to turn and run, but James quickly cast another spell, sticking the coward’s feet to the floor. As James approached, his resolve hardened, annoyed that this would now be the focus of his night, instead of the Quidditch Annual he’d been looking forward to flipping through. “What on earth is going on here?” he commanded.

The girl, the one who hadn’t tried to run, spoke first. “A duel.” 

She clearly wasn’t going to try and lie to him. At least she realized there was no point in denying it. A bit of his anger abated by the clear confession, James registered who the girl was. This wasn’t just some girl, it was Lily.

Shaking the shock off, James turned from her to look at the student who had run. It was a 6th year Ravenclaw boy by the name of Anton Ferrows. He removed the sticking charm from the boy's feet and stood squarely between the two. They wouldn’t attempt another round with him standing in the middle.

“And why exactly are you dueling each other?”

Ferrows stayed quiet, instead opting to glare at Lily. Lily replied for them again. “He called me a mudblood, so I challenged him. If he thinks he’s better than me, I figured he could prove it.”

James felt a new wave of anger wash over him. He couldn’t really blame her for the duel anymore, if he’d been in her position, he likely would have done something much worse to the boy. Hell, he wanted to do something worse right now. Calling someone that word was completely unforgivable to James.

Taking a deep breath, James calmed himself. He couldn’t fly off the handle now, not when he was supposed to be stopping the duel, not fanning the flames. He looked between them both. 

“25 points from each of your houses, and a week’s detention each,” James proclaimed. For a moment he wondered if he could even give Lily detention, but decided he’d worry about it later. He turned to face Ferrows alone. “Another 25 points from you Ferrows, for using such bigoted language, and I will be discussing this with your Head of House. Your detentions will be with Filch, I’ll let him know to expect you starting tomorrow evening at 6. Off you go.”

He waited until Ferrows was out of his sight before turning back to Lily, who was waiting behind him. “Come on, with me Evans,” he said, walking down the hall.

He could hear her footsteps behind him, but she didn’t say anything. They weren’t far away from the Head rooms and it would be much easier to talk to her there. James was impressed with her resolve so far, but he couldn’t imagine that she felt very good about being called that slur. From her reaction, he felt sure it wasn’t the first time she had heard it directed at her either.

James directed her through their shared portrait hole and gently commanded her to take a seat in the armchair next to the fireplace. Quickly searching through his trunk he had left in the common room, he found a chocolate frog and tossed it at her. Remus had taught him (or conditioned him more like) to always have chocolate on hand for instances such as these.

He took the seat closest to her at the end of the sofa, hoping that he wasn’t making her uncomfortable. Their relationship had improved considerably over the past two years and he didn’t want it all to come undone now. Lily ate the chocolate frog but still didn’t say anything. She was determinedly looking around the common room at anywhere that wasn’t him.

James let her avoid him for a minute, eating a chocolate frog of his own. The card inside was disappointing, a common Archibald Alderton. He tossed the card to the side and looked back at Lily.

She was doing a good job of putting on a brave face. If James wasn’t so used to looking through Sirius when he was upset, he might have believed that she was fine. It was her eyes that gave it away. Her eyes, which James thought about more than he cared to admit, were usually sharp and focused. As he looked at her now though, they were unfocused and more than a little glassy.

“All right, Evans?” he asked.

Her eyes finally fell on him. “Not really, Potter.”

At least she didn’t dance around her feelings like Sirius did. “Care to share?”

She pulled her knees up to her chest in the chair, seemingly impossibly small for the person that she was. Lily had been the first girl James had noticed at Hogwarts. Her red hair certainly helped her to stand out, but her quick wit and outstanding magical skill had kept James’ attention over the years. He certainly hadn’t ignored other girls, but in the end, none of them quite compared to Lily.

Her presence always stood out in a room, but not in an oppressive way like some James could think of. Seeing her so small, barely filling the chair, just seemed wrong.

Her voice came muffled from behind her knees. “James, do you think I’m a talented witch?”

James could hardly believe the question. “Evans, if your high marks on nearly every assignment we’ve ever had and the Head Girlship weren’t enough, then just believe me when I say that you’re one of the most talented witches I’ve ever met.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“I wouldn’t say that just to make someone feel better, so yes.” 

Her face brightened ever so slightly. “Thank you.”

James gave her a friendly smile. “Don’t mention it. Anything else on your mind?”

She didn’t answer right away. She looked around the room again, apparently trying to find the words. James didn’t want to push her. He couldn’t imagine what might be going through her head. 

He turned his attention to the fireplace instead, shooting a controlled flame at the logs. The fireplace came to life, casting a warm glow around the common room. It felt a little more comfortable in the room than it had just before.

“What gives them the right?” Lily asked suddenly.

James turned to look at her, unable to answer her question. She’d uncurled from her ball and her eyes had regained their focus. “What makes them any better than me? Or others like me? I didn’t ask to have magic, I don’t even know why I am. What makes a pureblood any better than the rest of us?”

“Nothing.”

Lily looked at him in surprise. She seemed to recognize what she had said. Her mouth opened, likely about to offer an apology, but James put up his hand and she fell quiet.

“Absolutely nothing, Lily. In fact, they’ve all been so busy inbreeding, trying to keep bloodlines ‘pure’ they’ve done nothing more than pollute it. There isn’t a single thing about any one of us that is any more remarkable than you are,” he made a deliberate pause before continuing. “And I’m not offended, what you said was true. Besides, us Potters have been on the outs of the pureblood communities for years.”

He couldn’t have predicted what Lily would do next. She moved from her chair, joining him on the sofa and cuddling into him. For a moment, James stiffened beneath her, not quite sure of what to do. Lily coming to him for physical comfort was something he’d only ever dreamt about. He didn’t know what to do now that it was really happening.

Lily sighed and repositioned, moving James’ arm around her shoulders for him. Both of them relaxed into each other and stared at the fire for a while. They were quiet, the storm in Lily’s mind seeming to have passed, even if only temporarily. James was hoping that she couldn’t hear how rapidly his heart was beating in his chest.

Eventually, he moved his hand into her hair, softly working his fingers through her crimson locks. Lily made a small, contented noise, encouraging James to continue. Part of James was fairly certain that this was heaven. Sitting together with Lily on a couch, fireplace crackling, and getting to play with her hair. He never wanted the moment to end.

James wasn’t sure how much time had passed since they had last spoken. The only measure he had was the sun setting in the window behind them.

Lily was the first to talk again. “James?”

Her voice pulled James from the stupor he’d fallen into. He looked down at her, meeting her eyes. “Hm?”

“Will this ever be over?”

Feeling a bit bold and stalling for time, James leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t know Lily, I really don’t.”


End file.
